TrygFonden's Child Research Seminar Series: Guido Schwerdt, Universität Konstanz

Title: The Intergenerational Transmission of Skills: An Investigation of the Causal Impact of Families on Student Outcomes

Oplysninger om arrangementet

Tidspunkt

Torsdag 28. oktober 2021,  kl. 12:00 - 13:15

Sted

via Zoom

Abstract
The extensive literature on intergenerational mobility has highlighted the importance of family linkages but has failed to provide credible evidence about the underlying family factors that drive the pervasive correlations.  Employing a unique combination of survey and Dutch registry data that links math and language skills across generations, we can identify the causal connection between parent-child skills.  The upward bias in purely descriptive analyses of intergenerational persistence is as large as 60 percent. The between-subject estimation is robust to a range of dynastic differences among families. The data also permit novel IV estimation of the key intergenerational mobility parameter, which demonstrates the influence of school and peer quality on lasting educational outcomes. Finally, we show the strong influence of family skill transmission on subsequent choices of STEM fields.